U.S. Navy warship will have to be lifted off Philippine reef

By Brad Lendon, CNN

Updated 3:06 PM ET, Fri January 25, 2013

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End of the USS Guardian – The stern of the USS Guardian, the last piece of grounded ship, is removed by a crane vessel on Saturday, March 30. The U.S. Navy minesweeper became trapped on a reef off the western Philippine island of Palawan on January 17. The Navy has pledged to clean up debris and restore the reef as much as possible.

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End of the USS Guardian – A crane vessel lifts the bow of the USS Guardian on Tuesday, March 26.

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End of the USS Guardian – The crane vessel pulls the bow off the ship on March 26.

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End of the USS Guardian – The crane vessel removes a hull section on Wednesday, March 27. The U.S. Navy expects the Guardian to be completely removed from Tubbataha Reef by mid-April, an official says.

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End of the USS Guardian – The U.S. Navy and Philippines authorities are working to dismantle the ship.

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End of the USS Guardian – Brandon Berry grinds through steel in the engine room in preparation for removing machinery.

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End of the USS Guardian – The USS Guardian's funnel section is lifted Tuesday, February 26, as a task force works on removing equipment.

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End of the USS Guardian – The USS Guardian rocks in the waves on February 8.

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End of the USS Guardian – The Malaysian tug Vos Apollo removes diesel fuel and human wastewater from the USS Guardian on January 28.

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End of the USS Guardian – Waves crash against the USS Guardian in January. The minesweeper is estimated to have damaged 4,000 square meters of the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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End of the USS Guardian – In this undated photo, a U.S. Navy diver moves damage control equipment and other materials to be unloaded from the USS Guardian.

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End of the USS Guardian – The Guardian on the Tubbataha Reef on January 19 in a handout photo from the Philippines military.

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End of the USS Guardian – Anti-riot police disperse protesters in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Friday, January 25. The Filipinos were demonstrating against the grounded U.S. Navy minesweeper and called for the pullout of American troops stationed in the Philippines. They splattered the police with paint.

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End of the USS Guardian – Malaysian tug Vos Apollo, foreground, prepares to help remove fuel from the USS Guardian while a U.S. Navy boat approaches with a salvage team on Thursday, January 24.

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End of the USS Guardian – A U.S. Navy salvage assessment team boards the USS Guardian on Wednesday, January 23, in the Sulu Sea.

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End of the USS Guardian – A member of the Philippines coast guard approaches the USS Guardian on Tuesday, January 22, in a handout picture from the Philippines coast guard.

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End of the USS Guardian – A diver from the Philippines coast guard measures coral damage on the Tubbataha Reef on January 22 in another handout photo. The reef is a Philippines national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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End of the USS Guardian – Student activists scuffle with police in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila during a January 19 protest condemning the minesweeper's grounding.

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Story highlights

The USS Guardian has several holes in its hull, admiral says

The 1,300-ton minesweeper will have to be lifted onto a barge

The ship damaged more than 10,000 square feet of the Tubbataha Reef

The reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The U.S Navy minesweeper that grounded on a Philippine reef last week has taken on water and sustained too much damage to be towed off, the Navy says.

"It's got hull penetrations in several places, and there is a significant amount of water inside the ship," Rear Adm. Tom Carney said at a briefing Thursday.

The Navy said it will use ship-borne cranes and heavy-lift vessels to lift the minesweeper, the USS Guardian, off the Tubbataha Reef.

"As the crane ships arrive, we will take items off the Guardian to lighten the weight of the ship so we are able to remove it from the reef," Carney said. "The option that we had hoped to tow the ship off the reef is not available. The ship is too badly damaged."

The Guardian would be removed from the area on a barge or other ship, Carney said.

"The ship cannot move on its own, and it is not operational," he said.

The 224-foot-long,1,312-ton ship was on its way from Subic Bay, Philippines, to its next port call in Indonesia when it struck the reef, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east-southeast of Palawan Island in the Sulu Sea, on January 17.

Initial efforts to free the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship at high tide were unsuccessful. Its crew of 79 was evacuated to other vessels, and the ship was battered by waves that pushed it farther onto the reef.

Carney said the Guardian now rests about 20 to 30 meters (22 to 33 yards) from the edge of the reef. Originally, only its bow was on the reef, but waves have now pushed the entire ship onto it.

Lt. Cmdr. James Stockman, a Navy spokesman in Manila, said Friday that the heavy-lift vessels would arrive at the grounding site in about a week. The guided missile destroyer USS Mustin, the oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch and the rescue and salvage ship USNS Salvor, as well as tugboats and Philippine navy and coast guard vessels, are on station, he said in an e-mail to CNN.

"Extracting the ship safely, while minimizing further damage to the reef, is a very complex process that requires careful and detailed planning and specialized equipment," Stockman said. "Although we are moving as expeditiously as possible, we want to ensure it is done safely while minimizing damage to the reef and surrounding environment."

It could take two weeks to remove the Guardian from the reef, Carney said.

"We are committed to moving the ship from the reef as soon as possible. ... That is the focus of all our efforts," he said.

The Navy said Friday that the ships on station have removed about 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the Guardian.

Carney said there have been no signs of oil or fuel leaking into the waters above the reef, which is a Philippine national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The reef is home to a vast array of sea, air and land creatures, as well as sizable lagoons and two coral islands. About 500 species of fish and 350 species of coral can be found there, as can whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and one of the last surviving colonies of breeding seabirds in the region, according to UNESCO.

Philippine officials said this week that the Philippines would seek compensation for damage to the reef. About 1,000 square meters (about 10,760 square feet) of the reef have been damaged.

"It's a damage to a world heritage site. It's a damage to our natural resources. It's a damage to an important site. We cannot but put emphasis on the importance of this reef as a heritage site," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

He said the salvage operation must ensure that the reef sustains no further damage.

As to how the ship got stuck on the reef in the first place, Stockman said the Navy is looking at a number of factors.

He said the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which prepares the digital navigation charts used by the Navy, has reported the location of the reef was misplaced on a chart by nine miles.

"The U.S. Navy investigation will review what charts Guardian was using. While this erroneous navigation chart data is important information, no one should jump to conclusions," Stockman said. "It is critical that the U.S. Navy conduct a comprehensive investigation that assesses all the facts and circumstances surrounding the Guardian grounding."